McGuireWoods was recognized as a leading law firm in 32 nationwide practice areas in The Legal 500 United States, the respected independent guide to the country’s top firms and lawyers. The 2020 rankings showcase the firm’s litigation and transactional strength in major industries and practice areas, including energy; banking and finance; M&A and private equity; healthcare; corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense; technology; and transportation.
The firm earned Tier 1 rankings in four categories: Energy Litigation: Conventional Power; Energy Regulation: Conventional Power; Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Automotive/Transport; and Transport: Rail and Road – Litigation.
The guide noted the firm’s work handling regulatory, litigation and transactional matters for major U.S. utility companies. One client praised the firm for providing “practical, commercially minded, and well-reasoned” advice on energy M&A deals.
McGuireWoods also earned high marks for advising lenders and borrowers in commercial loan deals. The Legal 500 noted that the firm ranks “among the largest players in the world in terms of volume and deal numbers.” The firm ranked No. 1 worldwide for advising lenders in syndicated loans in 2019, according to authoritative league tables published by Refinitiv.
The Legal 500 lauded the firm for the depth and breadth of its litigation capabilities, including its prowess in product liability matters, general commercial disputes and government investigations and white-collar defense. The guide noted the firm’s representation of elected officials and corporations in high-profile government investigations and litigation in 2019.
McGuireWoods lawyers were individually recognized 132 times in this year’s guide, with seven singled out as “Leading Lawyers” in their respective practice areas.
- Mark Anderson, Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Automotive/Transport
- Eric Bilik, Transport: Rail and Road – Litigation
- Brian Jackson, Transport: Rail and Road – Litigation
- Joanne Katsantonis, Energy Transactions: Conventional Power
- John Padgett, Transport: Shipping
- Samuel Tarry, Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Automotive/Transport
- Michael Woodard, M&A: Middle Market
Associates Patrick Dover and Ashley Matthews were recognized as “rising stars” in Transport: Rail and Road – Litigation and Cyber Law, respectively.
McGuireWoods earned rankings in the following nationwide practice areas.
- Antitrust – civil litigation and class actions: defense
- Commercial lending: advice to borrowers
- Commercial lending: advice to lenders
- Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to corporates
- Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to individuals
- Cyber law (including data protection and privacy)
- Energy litigation: conventional power
- Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy regulation: conventional power
- Energy: renewable/alternative power
- Energy transactions: conventional power
- Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment: litigation
- Fintech
- General commercial disputes
- Healthcare: advice to service providers
- M&A: middle-market (sub-$500 million)
- Not-for-profit: Nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations
- Outsourcing
- Private equity buyouts
- Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: automotive/transport
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: consumer products
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: toxic tort
- Project finance: advice to lenders
- Project finance: advice to sponsors
- Securities litigation: defense
- Technology transactions
- Transport: aviation and air travel – finance
- Transport: rail and road – litigation and regulation
- Transport: shipping – litigation and regulation
In addition, The Legal 500 recognized individual McGuireWoods lawyers in the following categories:
Antitrust – civil litigation/class actions: defense
Amy Manning of Chicago; Howard Feller, Brent Justus and Seth Schaeffer of Richmond
Commercial lending
Chris Molen of Atlanta; Eric Burk, Rebecca Chaffin, David Lapp, Kevin McGinnis, Raj Natarajan and Kent Walker of Charlotte; Hamid Namazie of Los Angeles; Penny Zacharias of Pittsburgh; and Anne Croteau of Raleigh
Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
Kevin Lally of Los Angeles; Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk; John Adams and Richard Cullen of Richmond; Robert Bittman, Andrew McBride, Todd Steggerda and George J. Terwilliger III of Washington, D.C.
Cyber law (including data protection and privacy)
Ashley Matthews of Charlottesville; Rodger Heaton of Chicago; Anne Peterson of Pittsburgh; Janet Peyton of Richmond; Andrew Konia of Tysons
Energy litigation: conventional power
Julia English, Todd Mullins and Noel Symons of D.C.
Energy litigation: oil and gas
James Jeffries of Charlotte; Brian Jackson of Charlottesville; Megan Haines and Greg Krock of Pittsburgh; Ryan Frei of Richmond
Energy regulation: conventional power
Julia English, Todd Mullins and Noel Symons of D.C.
Energy: renewable/alternative power
Timothy Callahan of Chicago; Durham McCormick of Houston; D. Brennen Keene and Michael Woodard of Richmond
Energy transactions: conventional power
Brian Kelly of Baltimore; Joanne Katsantonis of Richmond
Energy transactions: oil and gas
Anthony Carna and Ryan Purpura of Pittsburgh
Environment: litigation
David Franchina of Charlotte; Charles Case of Raleigh; Diane Flannery, John Lain, Vishwa Link, Eugene Mathews III, Dale Mullen and Scott Oostdyk of Richmond
Fintech
Rakesh Gopalan and Susan Rodriguez of Charlotte; Sarah Zielinski of Chicago; James Anderson of Richmond
General commercial disputes
Cheryl Haas of Atlanta; Ava Lias-Booker of Baltimore; Jonathan Blank of Charlottesville; Robert Muckenfuss of Charlotte; Tanya Greene of Los Angeles; Stephen Foresta of New York; Diane Flannery of Richmond; Todd Steggerda of D.C.
Healthcare: advice to service providers
Bart Walker of Charlotte; Scott Becker, James Riley and Amber McGraw Walsh of Chicago; Kate Hardey of Charlotte
M&A: middle-market (sub-$500 million)
Chris Scheurer of Charlotte; Geoffrey Cockrell, Thomas DeSplinter and Greg Hawver of Chicago; Thomas Zahn of Pittsburgh; Deepak Reddy of New York; Joanne Katsantonis and Michael Woodard of Richmond
Not-for-profit: Nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations
Jean Gordon Carter of Raleigh; Michele McKinnon of Richmond
Outsourcing
Rakesh Gopalan of Charlotte; Derek Roach of Chicago
Private equity buyouts
Geoffrey Cockrell and Thomas DeSplinter of Chicago; Jon Finger of Dallas; Thomas Zahn of Pittsburgh
Private equity funds (including venture capital)
Bryan Bylica and Mark Kromkowski of Chicago; Kevin Boardman of Dallas
Product liability, mass tort and class actions – automotive/transport – defense
Courtney Shytle of Charlotte; Mark Anderson of Raleigh; Diane Flannery, Perry Miles, Samuel Tarry and J. Tracy Walker IV of Richmond
Product liability, mass tort and class actions – consumer products – defense
Courtney Shytle of Charlotte; Mark Anderson of Raleigh; Stephen Busch, Terrence Bagley, Diane Flannery, Perry Miles, Samuel Tarry and Trent Taylor of Richmond
Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
Mark Anderson of Raleigh; Diane Flannery and Samuel Tarry of Richmond
Product liability, mass tort and class actions – toxic tort – defense
Mark Anderson of Raleigh; Diane Flannery and Samuel Tarry of Richmond
Project finance
Brian Kelly of Baltimore; Timothy Callahan of Chicago; Durham McCormick of Houston; D. Brennen Keene of Richmond
Securities litigation: defense
Cheryl Haas of Atlanta; Jonathan Blank of Charlottesville; Robert Muckenfuss of Charlotte; Jeffrey Chapman and Noreen Kelly of New York; Diane Flannery of Richmond; Todd Steggerda of D.C.
Technology transactions
Rakesh Gopalan of Charlotte; Stephen Older of New York
Transport: aviation and air travel – finance
Patricia Hosmer and David Whelpley Jr. of Charlotte; Deepak Reddy of New York; Peter Szurley of San Francisco
Transport: rail and road – litigation and regulation
Brian Jackson of Charlottesville; Eric Bilik, Patrick Dover and Christopher Thanner of Jacksonville
Transport: shipping – regulation
John Padgett of Norfolk